The Game
by Aliq
Summary: The Game itself is fairly straightforward. Two mutants are chosen, locked in a cage in a large arena and made to fight. If you never lose, you never leave. Velvet has never lost. Rated M just incase. Pietro/OC.
1. Void

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Disclaimer: I, obviously, do not own X-men: Evolution. I do, however, own Velvet asher. if anyone likes my idea with The Game, feel free to use it.

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**The Game**

**an X-men Evolution fan-fiction**

**by**

**Aliq**

It was a Thursday night and Velvet Asher lay on her uncomfortable cot staring at the bland concrete ceiling, her mind and body void of emotion. Every week was spent basically the same way, one routine with few variations. It makes a person dull after awhile. She couldn't even wonder if she'd ever escape anymore. Escape from this small cage, escape the people keeping her, and escape the game. She had realized a long time ago that she had nowhere better to go so she gave up. She didn't want to leave anymore. She didn't even care. She had become irrelevant to the world and the world had become irrelevant to her.

All in all, though, the place wasn't so bad. Velvet was healthy, alive, had a roof over her head and enough to eat, she wasn't abused; she was just used for entertainment. Her and any other mutant either blackmailed into playing or simply kidnapped and forced to play. Not many of the others ever lasted all that long though. A couple times people have been killed. Some ended up in comas. None had escaped yet, though not for lack of trying.

The Game itself is fairly straightforward. Two mutants are chosen, locked in a cage in a large arena and made to fight. If you refuse to fight you're hit with a stun gun, dragged away and replaced. If you fight your heart out and lose three times you can leave. If you throw the fight you're hit with a stun gun, dragged away and replaced. No hitting below the waist, avoid all kill shots if you can. If you never lose, you never leave. Velvet has never lost. The game is played every Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights starting at nine o'clock. Velvet is the champion and it's rare that a contestant gets far enough to be matched with her but this Friday would be one of those rare occasions. Mutants who sign up for the game can leave anytime, so can any mutant who might have family or friends that could cause trouble for the crowd that runs the game.

Apparently some kid calling himself 'The Blob' had signed up and was doing well for himself. Velvet's cage guard had given her warning and told her she should be training, but she didn't see the need to as she never got rusty. The physical side of her mutation had always been so natural it was no harder than blinking to her.

As Velvet lay wide awake in her small room for hours on end she found that the only way to keep herself sane was replaying the nights she got to fight; the nights she got to be seen… the nights she was significant. Even though these days her fifteen minutes of fame were few and far between and only lasted fifteen seconds, she still felt exhilarated by the roar of the crowd. Her last fight had been a little over three months previous. Between fights she was not allowed to leave her cell and was thankful that she had her own bathroom. Sometimes when her memories became a bore she would stare out the one small barred window on the back wall, not that it presented much of a view, other times she opened the tiny panel on her door to watch the other contestants being dragged back to their chambers. But tonight she just felt empty.

"Lights out!" a patrol guard called through her door then switched the light off. Velvet blinked twice then rolled onto her side and waited for sleep. It seemed like hours before she could no longer feel the coldness of the small room or the rutted stiff mattress underneath her. A dreamless broken slumber was the best she could get when the only real thing to do in this place was sleep.

Velvet had awakened many times during the night, she had been conscious when the buzzing light of her cell was turned back on, but found sleep easy to return to. The daylight hours of the Friday were almost over, Velvet's next fight was fast approaching and by this point her comatose state was becoming elusive. She looked toward the foot of her door and found, as expected, a change of clothes and a towel.

Heaving a sigh Velvet moved off her cot, picked up the clothes and proceeded into her minuscule bathroom which consisted of a toilet, a shower head and valve with one temperature – lukewarm - , the drain below the shower head and a shelf on which stood a cheep shampoo pump bottle, a hair brush and a bar of soap. Dumping her change of clothes on the shelf, Velvet stripped, turned the water on and started to wash herself. The water was soothing and the only pleasant thing she had so she spent a lot of time sitting under the refreshing spray when she knew she had something clean to wear afterwards. But Velvet had a fight tonight, and she hated fighting with wet hair, so she finished showering and dried herself quickly.

Wrapping the towel around her damp hair, Velvet dressed swiftly and walked back into the main cell. Tonight she wore a pair of fingerless leather gloves, a black tank top and a pair of stretchy black pants. She brushed her long dark hair into a ponytail high on the back of her head. When she was dressed and ready she dropped to the floor and did push-ups until the guards came to collect her for her match.

"…sixty-one…" Down, up "sixty two…" down, up "sixty three…" She counted as she bobbed effortlessly up and down on the floor. Velvet may look delicate and petite but this is one girl that should never be underestimated. Her strength, matched with her speed, agility, flexibility, astute and assessing mind, and her reflexes are damn near unconquerable in hand to hand combat. Velvet could calculate the situation and rapidly triumph in a one on one fight with anyone if they were only using physical attributes. "Sixty eight…" down, up "sixty nine…" down…

"Chaos… it's time." Three guards stood in the entrance of her chamber each firm postured and expressionless. Velvet glanced up at them and pushed off the floor. "You know the drill, hands on the wall." She moved over to the wall and placed her palms flat against it. As one of the guards patted her down, checking for concealed weapons, the other two took firm hold of her arms. Not that their firm hold would do much good had she actually wanted to get away. "She's clean." He confirmed and led the way to the arena.

As they trekked through the halls the other captive mutants cheered through their doors and wished her luck. None of them had ever been friends but they were all proud of her. She was their pride and glory; she was the best they had. And they didn't even know the half of it.

Five minutes later Velvet was standing behind the black curtain entrance to the arena waiting for her introduction. She could hear the announcers booming voice and the roar of the crowd through the thin veil barrier. "… Undefeated in nineteen consecutive rounds, ladies and gentlemen; the blob!"

The masses cheered and celebrated, and velvet heard a distinctive 'Yeah!' coming from the center ring. Her opponent sounded quite large. Her calculating mind had already kicked in, she had deduced that it would be best to start with the knees and ankles, try to bring him down to her size.

"And now," the announcer continued as the bellowing died down, "the moment we've all been waiting for, standing at a mere five-foot-seven and weighing in at ninety-six pounds, undefeated in her two hundred and sixteen consecutive rounds, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to introduce; Kid Chaos!"

"Ugh," she spat as the curtains concealing her were pulled back. She had always hated her codename. Nevertheless, her features were set in an empty stare as she made her way to the cage in the center of the arena. She stared around at the crowd as she strolled confidently pass them. She noticed a few of the spectators flinch under her steely detached gaze, but found it no harder to keep a strait face.

Finally she reached the cage and stared straight at her new challenger. He was a large boy, tall and round. He had a blond Mohawk and big round cheeks – and he was belly laughing at her; almost collapsing in his amusement. This did not deter her though; this was the reaction she always got. And they were never laughing when she was finished with them.

They opened the cage and Velvet calmly sauntered to her place in the ring. She fixed her hard stare on the floor as the announcer clarified the rules, not that she needed to hear them. "… no hitting 'below the belt', avoid all kill shots and…" he turned to velvet and pleaded "try not to break the cage this time." loud enough for her challenger to hear. Velvet nodded once, her hardened eyes never leaving the floor and her arms hanging comfortably, hands fisted, at her sides.

The announcer then turned on his heel and rushed out the gate. _'Three, two, one'_ Velvet counted backwards in her head and as she hit one the bell rang for the fight to start. All at once, velvets head snapped up and her hardened features twisted into a determined and loosely sadistic glower.

To the spectators, Kid Chaos was nothing but a black blur. She got behind her opponent and kicked him hard in the back of the left knee, then swept her foot under the weakened appendage. The boy was suddenly kneeling with a stunned expression etched into his features. He swung his large arms back trying to strike her by chance but she was much to fast, and dug her fingers into a nerve cluster under his right arm rendering it useless. She blurred again, getting in front of the boy who was still rather large compared to her small form, and used his right knee as leverage as she brought her left knee crashing into his right cheek. The blob boy swayed, hazily surprised for a moment, then tried grabbing the small girl but she was already gone. He could feel the areas she had hit already starting to bruise which was strange for him, he didn't think anyone would ever be able to hit him hard enough to leave a mark; especially not a girl who wasn't even half his size.

The next thing anyone knew, kid chaos was clinging to the blobs back with her knees and feet digging into his blubbery sides as she maneuvered her arm around his neck in under his double chin. In under a minute she had brought the blob in all his massive form to his knees and had him in a choker hold.

"Five," she whispered into his ear as he struggled to regain his breath "four," gasp, wheeze, gurgle, "three," heave, sigh, gasp "two," gurgle, grunt, retch "one!" With her countdown over she kicked off of his back, launching herself eight feet in the air, flipped once and landed silently behind his collapsing form.

The gates burst open and the announcer rushed in bellowing "Winner by knockout!" as he grabbed Velvets arm and hoisted it into the air. "As if we didn't see that coming." And as the crowd hollered, whistled and shrieked with enthusiasm some guards hurried into the cage to try and move the large figure of the unconscious blob. They tried to lift him, drag him and roll him but no matter what they tried he would not budge.

Velvet shook her head annoyed and taped one of the guards on the shoulder "Get me some smelling salt." she demanded. The guard nodded and was back at her side in seconds handing her a small capsule. She took the pod with a polite dip of her head, hooked her arm under her former opponent and flipped him effortlessly onto his back. Kneeling beside him she snapped the shell, rubbed the salt between her fingers and waved the putrid substance under his nose.

"Ugh, what the fuck!" he barked, coughing and gagging as he pushed himself off the floor. "That shit is rank!" he pointed accusingly at Velvets hands. Seconds later he was distracted by a guard telling him he had to leave the arena, and he was led away through the horde of cheering people.

Pulling Velvet into a one armed, meaningless hug, the announcer continued addressing the swarm of citizens "Tonight we have a special treat for our lovely guests. Tonight; we are giving you the chance to go up against our champion! That's right; two lucky spectators get the chance to show us what their made of!"

The mob went wild with passion, jumping, screaming and chanting 'pick me!' as Velvet started getting frustrated. "What?" she snarled, eyes narrowing at the host who glanced shiftily back and continued smiling.

"So who wants a go?" he paused and scanned the masses, "You sir!" he called pointing at a tall, fine-figured boy with silver hair. A wicked smile spread wide across the boy's dazzling features as he speedily marched towards the cage. He stepped through the gates and strolled over to stand on the other side of the commentator "What's your name kid?"

Striking blue eyes glinting with satisfaction, the boy answered "Quicksilver." He leaned around the host to make sure Velvet had a clear view of him and scoffed "That was my buddy you throttled back there."

Velvet simply quirked her brow and averted her gaze as the announcer picked one more challenger. The other competitor was a woman in her early twenties who gave the name 'Tricky'.

After confirming that both new contestants were mutants and stood at least a meager chance the man with the microphone turned to view the horde of viewers "Alright, we'll flip a coin to see who takes on the mighty Kid Chaos first." the host announced digging through his pocket and pulling out a coin. "Heads or tails, son?" he turned to the boy called Quicksilver.

"Hmm, I don't know, let me think, uh –tails!" his rapid speech was harmonized with somewhat exaggerated movements. He seemed a little hyper.

The host confirmed with Tricky that she didn't mind taking heads then flipped the coin. The crowd held their breath as the coin spun through the air. The anticipation was intense as one thousand pairs of eyes followed the coin back to his palm. Finally it landed and was slapped to the back of the hosts other hand. He peeked quickly then held his head up with a growing smirk, no one breathed. The commentator moved his hand and bellowed into the microphone "Heads!"

Once again the crowd erupted into applause. The boy Quicksilver left the cage in a huff as the two girls took their places on opposite sides. 'Tricky vs. Kid Chaos' flashed atop the score board as people rushed to place their bets. The host explained the rules to Tricky while Velvet returned to staring at the ground and wondered what her new opponent's mutation was.

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**A/N: Chapter two might take awhile... then again, it may not come at all, that depends on if The Game gets any reveiws.**


	2. Enough

**Chapter 2: Enough**

The fight with 'Tricky' was somewhat of an annoyance to Velvet. 'Tricky' just seemed to know when Velvet was about to make a move, she even seemed to know exactly what the move was so for awhile Velvet had found it hard to hit the girl. Even though that fight barely lasted three minutes it made Velvet feel as though she was loosing her touch. But as par usual, Velvet won and would soon be fighting the boy 'Quicksilver'.

It turned out that 'Tricky hadn't actually been all that quick, nor had she even really been a fighter, she had just been a minor league illusionist who could only influence one mind at a time – but to no extremes. She couldn't even block Velvet from hearing the selection of viewers shouting Tricky's location for their champions benefit.

Velvet watched as the irritating illusionist was dragged from the cage, contemplating illegal brain surgery on the girl so she couldn't ever annoy anyone like that again. Her eyes then moved to the boy 'quicksilver' as he stepped up for his turn in the arena.

"Took you long enough." He mocked smirking devilishly as he strode into the center of the cage eyes flitting pointedly toward 'Tricky' as she was dragged around the enclosure and through a back door. Velvet just went back to her pre-fight stance, staring blankly at the blood stained floor of the cage.

Through all the years since the Game had started the once white matt had become a sickening brown. There were bleach stains, as well, from failed efforts to return the flooring to its natural color. Velvet stared down at the matt, subconsciously tracing a stain in her peripheral vision.

She hadn't any need to wonder what her next opponent's power was. The boy had made it obvious. If you couldn't already tell by his fluid movements then his code name surly told you all you needed to know. He was a speed demon. Most likely a permanent condition too.

The announcer began to reiterate the rules for the boy but he just looked bored and mimicked the rules more rapidly, finishing the sentence for him before the man was halfway through. The host gave Quicksilver a death glare through his fake smile as he turned and left the cage, mumbling something about ungrateful little shits.

Velvet heard the door slam shut as she waited for the usual ring of the bell. It rang and again her head snapped up. She was not surprised to find that the boy was nowhere to be seen.

Her eyes darted rapidly around the cage in search of the elusive figure. She would have him in her sights one moment but in the next moment he was gone again. Her head snapped to the left as he dashed across her vision delivering a left hook to her jaw, and again the boy was gone.

Velvet was not surprised by this display of speed. It had been obvious that he would be fast enough to get in at least a few good hits. Besides; she would have been disappointed if he hadn't put up a decent fight.

A minute had passed and she had felt two more blows to the face, one to her left shoulder and four to her stomach. Though she knew he would not tire easily, if ever, she was biding her time. Velvet just stood taking every blow, waiting for a way to surprise the boy.

Sure Velvet was fast, but her speed came in short bursts it was not continuous like your typical speed demon.

"Hey, what's the matter? Can't catch me?" He teased appearing in front of her only to disappear again, that devil smirk firmly in place. He stopped in a far corner to display a mock yawn as he said "It's too bad, I was hoping for a real fight." Then he took off again.

Velvets eyes had trained themselves on him. They were catching up with his every movement and soon she would be able to fight the boy for real. Her skin was sensitive and after the first two minutes it had tuned to the air currents, helping her to determine which direction he was moving and when he changed course.

Five hits later, her body was so attuned to his movements that he was no longer as elusive as he still thought himself to be. Mere milliseconds after he delivered another fist to her stomach she could feel him coming up on her right side.

In her own little burst of speed that she knew he hadn't seen coming, Velvet stepped to the side, turned and held her left arm parallel to the floor right in the moment he was passing her. In that same moment she felt the boys' throat connect with the outstretched appendage and she watched as his body was thrown into an awkward, and painful looking back flip.

He landed on his stomach five feet ahead of where Velvet had gotten the drop on him. Another burst of speed and she was standing over him, lifting the still stunned boy by the back of the neck. She knew it wouldn't be long until the boy regained his wits and started up his little wind storm again. She hastily threw the boy hard into the mesh wall of the cage, and followed in a final burst of speed as she decided to keep the boy winded. How do you wind a speed demon? Simple; a good hard knee to that sweet spot right in the middle of the chest does the trick.

Velvet stood back as she watched Quicksilver gasping for air on the dirty floor of the cage. The boy even tried to pull himself back to his feet but soon realized moving only made breathing harder. Soon enough the boy passed out from lack of oxygen and was starting to turn purple.

Velvet then realized her mistake. She had hit him so hard that he couldn't pull the air back into his lungs. He was going to die if she didn't do something. Luckily Velvet was not stupid and far from slow. Less than a second later she was on her knees and had the boy on his back as she gave him mouth to mouth.

All she could think while she attempted to resuscitate the boy was _I can't let this happen_. Everything seemed to move so slowly. She could hear her blood pounding in her ears. She had heard of other the other captive mutants killing their opponents but she had never thought of how it would affect her. She never thought she would be in this position.

Tears started forming in her eyes as she breathed into the boy. Over and over she forced air into his lungs silently wishing she could be someone else, anyone else, that she was not a disgusting murderer and that she didn't have the ability to kill a man with one punch.

The crowd of spectators watched in awe as their once proud champion fell apart. Kid Chaos became hysterical when he didn't start breathing on his own again. She was pulled off the boy, an on hand paramedic took over the attempts, and dragged back to her cell.

The guards dumped Velvet on her stiff mattress and left, locking the door on their way out. She hugged her knees to her chest and cried. The tears continued to flow as hours passed. They never lost their persistence as she drifted into sleep and dreamed of the boys purpling face.

She awoke the next morning with her hair and pillow wet from tears and sticking to her face. Slowly she lifted her head and looked to the door. Velvet wasn't sure what she had been expecting to see. Maybe she had hoped that someone, possibly a guard or one of the medical team, would be waiting for her to wake so they could tell her the boy was alright. She felt foolish when she saw nothing but the cold metal door; she should have realized that these people didn't care if she needed comforting. She was just a meal ticket to them.

She pulled herself from the uncomfortable cot and for the first time in her life it had taken effort to get out of bed. She walked to her small bathroom, discarded her clothing and sat, for hours, under the lukewarm spray of water.

No one came to tell her what had happened to Quicksilver and it was killing her. She had to know if he was okay but knew that they would never tell her of their own accord.

Finally she got off the floor and re-dressed in the previous days clothes. She walked to the door and waited for someone to pass by. After a long while one of the patrol guards walked by looking in on the captives.

He looked into her cell and screamed. Velvet was by no means trying to be scary but he hadn't realized she was standing there. Her face was set in that blank stare that showed how lifeless she felt. When the guard had composed himself she hardened her gaze and asked in a deadly tone "What happened to the boy?"

The guard just scoffed at her and walked away calling her a 'sick mutant freak'.

Over the next week she stood at the door waiting for another guard to come. By the third day she had given up asking and started screaming for them to answer her. Then she had had enough. The last guard to walk by had completely ignored her and she couldn't take it anymore.

In a burst of speed and strength, and a secret power she rarely used, she punched her cell door and sent it crashing into the opposite wall. Velvet was angry.

She stepped out into the corridor and turned to the guard that had so blatantly ignored her. He had his stun gun trained on her and was shouting for her to give up as he cautiously backed away. Velvet heard none of it as she continued toward the man threateningly. The guard squeezed the trigger and held it as he tried to bring her down but his weapon was ineffective.

His eyes widened in fear as she clutched the front of his shirt in her hands. A sadistic smirk drew her features into a menacing scowl as she lifted the man and slammed him into the wall on her left and dropped him. The man just lay there unconscious. She knew that she hadn't killed the man because she could hear him breathing.

Velvet slowly sauntered through the facility making her way to the only exit she knew; through the arena. Multiple 'officials' in the game's organization tried to stop her but the shockwave's of their stun guns seemed to roll off of her like water and, after watching some of their work mates get thrown into walls and knocked senseless, most of them were reluctant to stand in her way.

"What are you doing? Stop her you morons, she's the main attraction!" Velvet glanced to her right at the sound of the gravelly voice. There was a fat balding man in a grey suit standing stiff and red faced shouting orders at his employee's to re-capture her. She turned on her heel and headed in his direction and in an instant his face had gone from beat red to ghostly white.

Velvet marched right up to the man, who was by this point clearly unable to speak from fear of the girl, until their noses were almost touching. "I'm leaving." She stated dangerously. The fat man looked as though he was about to protest until that sadistic scowl returned to her features as she dared him "Try and stop me."

She stared into his eyes, her own flashing an eerie red, until she saw defeat cross them. She turned again, her scowl still firmly in place, and started to leave. From that point on leaving had been a simple task. As she reached the main door to the facility the fat man shouted "You've been here since you were eight, you can't live out there. You'll be back."

"No." She growled. "I won't." Just for show, she let out a burst of speed and busted the doors off their hinges as she left. She continued beyond the reaches of the facility in speed mode just to see how far she could run without having to slow. At that moment she felt so free.


End file.
